Hello silence, my old friend

We live in a world where distraction comes so easily. We spend our days immersed in books, films, series, articles, TED videos, podcasts. So it's easy to lose ourselves. To stop noticing how we are. How we feel. What we're thinking. What we want. Where we are going. Without realising it we are living one day after another immersed a multitude of realities (fictional and otherwise) and we forget to remind ourselves of the big picture. Am I doing something today to ensure I achieve that long, far-away goal I said I'd meet in *insert achievable timescale*? Am I moving forward or am I standing still?

For the last couple of years I've been on a mission to rewire my life, inside and out. I have watched countless TED videos, listened to multiple podcasts and read numerous authors on a plethora of topics, from lifehacks for your kitchen to productivity, to dealing with past trauma, to being a better partner, to pretty much anything remotely related to personal development.

I listen to podcasts on my walk to work, I read books on the bus, I work, I leave work and repeat the same process and then on my free time what do I do? I read fiction and watch films and series. And this left me wondering: where am I in the middle of all this? Where is my voice?

In a world that has grown so loud I have forgotten the importance of silence. Of standing still. Of being in the moment. Of not worrying about all I still have to do, or fretting over what I am doing. Of being enough. 

All those articles have been paramount to all the changes I have made in my life and for that I am grateful. But when I open my mouth I want to be sure the words that come out are truly my own. Things I matured myself and not half empty words from someone marooned and lost within my head. So I am making an effort to take a step back from the deluge of information I subject myself to daily.

Yes, I will still read those articles, but I will not binge. I will not spend hours alienated from the world (no matter how engrossing the book!). And I will not torture myself if don't achieve absolutely everything on my daily to-do list simply because I decided to spend some time looking at steam rising from a cup of tea or listening to a good song. Because those things bring me back to the present. I will check up with myself more. I will write more. I will speak more. I will feel more. I will live more.

Do you want to join me?